Denis Opudo
Uganda and Zimbabwe currently have the best elaborate skills in artisanship/craftsmanship. This improves the two countries’ entrepreneurial development. Entrepreneurship relies on the available skills in given sectors where ventures are. There is a call for Zambia to work on its entrepreneurial base. The country’s entrepreneurial base is lower than its neighbors.
Countries like Uganda and Zimbabwe have trained their younger population to start businesses. This makes them not to rely on white collar jobs. The youths are trained in some skills like fish farming and carpentry. This helps them to start their businesses after graduation. The two countries have financial uptake of up to 100%. In South Africa, there is a middleman in the development of local entrepreneurs. The middleman is called match-maker. It was created by the Ministry of Commerce in partnership with large multinationals.
The match-maker helps entrepreneurs in finding the best financial support for their business. It also helps in getting the buyers of the products. At the same time, it helps to get the quality assurance. The number of loan uptake increases with a good environment for entrepreneurs. Entrepreneurship is all about total understanding of the business and ideas. Most of the Zambians have no idea on the business they want to venture into. Many of the Zambians only know about trading since that’s what they well know.
Nigerian philanthropist Tony Elumelu’s foundation has opened a two-month window for applications. This one is for entrepreneurs and individuals with saleable business ideas in Zambia. The application started on 2nd January 2018, and it will end on 1st March. The successful entrepreneurs and businesses will get seed capital of $5,000. On top of that, there will be 12 weeks of online training. There will also be a mentoring program by world-class mentors. On the other side, Tony Elumelu Foundation (TEF) funds US$5,000 in seed capital.
TEF is running the program for ten years now. It aims to identify, train fund and mentor 10,000 African entrepreneurs before 2024. They have $100 million in place for the whole exercise.
